Another iTunes lawsuit gets put to bed

Apple settled a suit with Vermont firm Contois Music Technology (CMT) which claimed that Apple's iTunes stole its patented design. The company sued Apple in Vermont court in June 2005, accusing Apple of infringing on U.S. Patent No. 5,864,868, which covers “a computer system and method for controlling a media playing device.”

CMT alleged that then or future Apple employees were at a November 1996 technology trade show where patent owner David Contois demonstrated the invention. Contois said he had filed his patent application in February of that year; government records show he was awarded the rights in 1999.

Amazing(2:22pm EST Tue Sep 05 2006)How cut throat big business is. the lawyers are loving it though, that I am sure of.Look at all the lawsuits from MS to Apple, IBM and Netscape.Yup the lawyers are rubbing their greedy hands together. – by Regulas

Patents!(8:41am EST Wed Sep 06 2006)I am going to sue everyone over my patent “Connecting computers together to do stuff.” Patents are award for any old tripe, tiny little thing or to general. Time the system was scrapped or massively reformed. Otherwise patents will become just a means to sue companies who have a sucessful product. – by 4×4